Ophthalmic bridge mounting



July 25, 1933. L. J. 'KUEHN 1,919,336

OPHTHALMI C BRIDGE MOUNTING Filed May 20. 1 ,29

Patented July 25, 19 33 LAWRENCE J. xun iin', or

iirix wAnxnn; Wisconsin "orHTHALMIc'BnIneE MOUNTING Application filed May 20.

This invention relatesto improvements in ophthalmic mountings. 1 r "It is the primary ob ect of this, inventlon to provide at greatly reduced expense a novel. simle. and ractical form of. 03hreference to facility of manufacture, marketing and adjustment of the mounting. It

is important, therefore, to note that the saving V necessary. Each mounting is fitted directly present invention seeks to provide advantages in the reduction. of weight and increase of flexibility, not only without additional expense but at materially lower cost than the expense involved in the manufacture of types of mountings previously known, r

It is a further purpose to produce for the first time, a one-piece planiform blank for ophthalmic mountings, thus enabling V such mountings to be stamped from sheet n' et-al and solving roblems heretofore )resentini apparently insuperable obstacles to the pro-j duction or" such ablank. The bridge, arms and sianks are provided integrally, thus soldering operations heretofore to the individual patient, thus eliminating all factory "forming operations.

A further advantage of the present mounting, derived from its unusual flexi-. bility and method of manufacture, is found in the fact that the mounting may be mar keted in an unusual form, that is to say, in the form of a blank or flat article which may be molded to shape by the opticianto suit the'requirements of any patient as desired.

In the drawing Fig. 1 1s a view in perspective of a pair blank from which ereuce characters .VIQWS, I

i929. Serial m tre 1.

of glassesasseinbled uponfa'n ophthalmic mounting embodying this invention..

Fig. 2 is a perspectiveillustration of the the completed mounting is assembled. 5 v Fig.3 shows a mounting complete to the point of being mercha'ntable but still in one plane with the exception of the added pads I and straps for the lenses.

Fig. 4 shows the mounting partially modified and the intermediate 'iornrwhich it assumes between the form shown in Fig.-

i 3 and the form shown in 'Fig. 1.

Like parts are identified by the same refthroughout; the several Ophthalmic. mountings. have heretofore usually been made of drawn metal such as goidor platinum wire,'the component-members having been bent to form at the "fac-' "tory and soldered. together in a set orstandardized way-requiring modification by the Optician in fitting glassesfmounted.thereon. Furthermore, the round or elliptical cross section of mounting heretofore employed has involved the use 01"? an excess vof material over that required for the fiat sheetmetal mounting which forms thesubject-matter of the present application 1 L The present invention contemplates a fornr of nioiuiting'which, except for the pads and p y straps, is integral in one piece, requiringno solder. between the arms and shanks 1 and brid It lends itself-to economical produotron in quantity; and can. readily be] modeled to any desired requirements of an form shape. in, which it is sold.

i Fig. 2 shows a blank inithe form'in which.

it is stamped from sheet metal for the manufacture of ophthalmic mountings in accordancewith this invention. It is, as above inindividual patient from' theflat or .planidicated, planiform'. and includes integrally the bridge 5, arms 6,, pad supports 7 and; shanks 8. v To render such ablank nerchanb. able it is necessary, aside from polishing and the like, only to provide it with straps 9 and pads 10, the straps being preferably soldered to shanks, 8 and the pads being;-

preferably riveted at 11 to the pad supports 7.

The fact that the extremely thin metal,

of which the article shown in Fig. 3 is formed, has its width disposed in a vertical plane has the efiect of making the mounting adequately rigid for the support of the lenses 12 with reference to each other while permitting the ready bending or formation of the parts in a horizontal direction. At the some time the component integral parts of the mounting are relatively. flexible in a general horizontal plane so that they may easily be bent to the desired positions.

When an optician receives a product such as that illustrated in Fig. 8, the initial step in adapting it for the patient consists in arcuately curving the bridge portion of the mounting to the form shown in Fig. 4.

This brings the pads into suitable proximity to engage either side of the bridge of the patients nose. In the course of this forming operation the height of the bridge of the mounting may be varied to suit .the requirements of the patient by bending the bridge portion 5 of the mounting in the plane of its minimum thickness if required.

Ordinarily however, this will not be necessary'.

With thebridge portion 5 of the article bent to the form illustrated in Fig. 4, theshanks 8 will be left projecting substantially horizontally and in parallel relation with their respective straps between them. In order to complete the preparation of the mounting to receive the lenses 12, these straps are now bent back upon themselves as shown at 13 in Fig. 1. The point at which the bend is made will determine the position of the lens with respect to the bridge, making it possible readily to adjust the individual lenses to positions most suited to thepatients requirements. The arc of the bend will determine the spacing between lenses, thus facilitating also the adjustment of the mounting to the patients requirements.

With the shanks 8 horizontal, the plane of the sectional portion of the bridge 5 will not be vertical. but will be somewhat inclined to conform to the incline of the patients nose at this point. This relation is primarily determined by the angle of shanks 8 with respect to the bridge portion 5 of the blank shown in Fig. 2. Obviously, how ever, the angularity between the members may be modified in the course of manually forming the mounting.

Any desired decoration 1n thew ay of em ,bossing or the likemaybe added to the article without departing from the scope of I said shanks.

the invention. It is possible, for example, to emboss a design on the bridge portion 5 of the blank in the course of making the blank withoutadditional expense.

It will be observed that the cost of ophthalmic mounting embodying this invention is very materially less than thecost of manufacturing the standard wire mounting.

In the first place one or more soldering operations are eliminated by the formation of the blank in one piece. In the secondplace the manufacturer is not obliged to employ any shaping operations. In the third place the characteristics of the article lend itself to ready manipulation by hand in the course of fitting the lenses to the patient, the re quired manipulation being seldom any greater and frequently less than that required for the adjustment of the standard mounting to the requirements of the particular patient. 7 I

The patient also'shares in. the benefit of the invention since he has a mounting which is not only lighter and-moreflexible than the standard-mounting in the directions requiredfor ease of wearing, but he also has a mounting in which the metal is not fa-' tigued by repeated working and in which the shape of the mounting is necessarily made in accordance with his particular requirements.

I claim:

1. Asa new article of manufacture, an ophthalmic mounting comprising a curved sheet metal bridge having its greatest width approximately vertical, shanks connected at acute angles to said bridge and projecting I forwardly therefrom and bent back upon themselves, said bridge lying substantially wholly between the outer faces of theforwardly projecting portions of said shanks,

and lens mounting means applied to the positions offset from said elbow portions, and pad supports at the free ends of said .arms, said portions being integrally connected and disposed in a common plane,

whereby said blank may be formed to fit.

individual requirements.

LAWRENCE J. KUEHN. 

